Posthumous Foleo Blog Gets Underway

Posted By: Ryan Kairer Tuesday, June 1, 2010 11:35:26 AM

palm foleo blog An enterprising Palm enthusiast has recently acquired a Palm Foleo and has started a blog to chronicle his impressions of the stillborn device. The blog is going by the moniker of IXLE Foleo and the author has begun to post about his thoughts on the device along with a number of screenshots and usage experiences.

Nearly three years ago to this day, the Palm Foleo project was announced with great fanfare, yet was cancelled before its public release. To date public and online appearances of the device have been rare and often shrouded in secrecy. A Foleo unit even surfaced on eBay last week and quickly sold for over $600. Perhaps with a unit in the hands of a more technically inclined and experience Palm OS user, we can expect to see some insight into the Palm mobile companion that never was.

Thanks to richf and PalmAddicts for the tip.

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Just what we wanted

richf @ 6/1/2010 6:34:53 AM # Q
Hey, look at this. A guy with a Foleo just posted this to PalmAddicts. Got a little excited in wanting to post this, so now I'm gonna go over and read it a little more thoroughly. Look here...http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/. Just drill down to find the article.
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid
RE: Just what we wanted
richf @ 6/1/2010 7:08:48 AM # Q
Just read his blog. Very interesting. I asked him to come over here and answer any questions, hope all you are as interested as I am. His blog is here...http://ixlefoleo.blogspot.com/
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid
RE: Just what we wanted
gmayhak @ 6/1/2010 8:08:09 AM # Q
Another stupid decision by Palm management, If they would have just listened to the initial criticism and fixed the problems it could have been a hot product.

Gary
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com

RE: Just what we wanted
BaalthazaaR @ 6/1/2010 8:56:05 AM # Q
Actually I think that the biggest reason that they canceled it was the cost of maintaining / supporting two different OSs would have been prohibitive given their cash burn rate. While they were both based on Linux kernels, most comments seemed to indicate that they were fairly different from each other.
RE: Just what we wanted
gmayhak @ 6/1/2010 9:32:51 AM # Q
>>>Actually I think that the biggest reason that they canceled it was the cost of maintaining / supporting two different OSs would have been prohibitive given their cash burn rate.

Probably right but by taking PalmOS to the next level and tweaking the Foleo they could have been a contender. Apple is proving that people will carry 2 devices, iPhone and iPad and tons of apps. Treo and Foleo and tons of apps.

Gary
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com

RE: Just what we wanted
jca666us @ 6/1/2010 5:20:46 PM # M Q
however apple has one os, two separate hardware platforms - well three if you count the iPod touch.

in addition they have the infrastructure to support app deployment and an active developer community.

palm had none of those things at the time foleo was introduced.

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Another Foleo is up

Xtremegene @ 6/1/2010 11:47:02 AM # Q
http://cgi.ebay.com/Palm-Foleo-SUPER-RARE-Actual-Device-/280515119063

PIC exclusive? :D
Palm OS now on the Nokia N800 (bought it from Ryan ironically enough) via Garnet VM! + WebOS on Sprint Pre

RE: Another Foleo is up
richf @ 6/1/2010 1:07:59 PM # Q
Where are these things coming from? Somebody has got to know. Lets get a Sherlock Holmes and put him to work. This has got to be interesting.
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid
RE: Another Foleo is up
Xtremegene @ 6/1/2010 1:15:45 PM # Q
Well, maybe not. Seller canceled the auction- it also had the exact same description it seems as the one that sold a week ago. So I guess it was for shits&giggles unless the previous buyer was putting it up him/herself.
Palm OS now on the Nokia N800 (bought it from Ryan ironically enough) via Garnet VM! + WebOS on Sprint Pre
Reply to this comment

silly

Gekko @ 6/1/2010 1:30:41 PM # Q

celebrating the fooleo is really silly. there was/is absolutely nothing interesting or groundbreaking about this device other than the idea that a one-time visionary like Hawkins could be so temporarily stupid to conceive and believe in and hype such a ridiculous device that was so obviously destined to fail and universally panned and that Palm's board and management couldn't or didn't call him out on it from the beginning and declare that the emperor had no clothes. it angers me when i think about all of the resources that this vanity project for Hawkins cost Palm customers, employees, and shareholders.

the fooleo is a testament to all to never believe the hype and to never believe your own bullshit or press clippings.


RE: silly
BaalthazaaR @ 6/1/2010 2:32:16 PM # Q
His idea for an instant on netbook was valid. The execution cannot be blamed on him since he was long gone by then.
RE: silly
hkklife @ 6/1/2010 2:53:00 PM # Q
1 Asus already had the EEE PC developed & about to be announced when Palm canned the Fooleo (as were others such as the Everex Cloudbook etc).

2. As Asus & others sales figures can attest, the general public doesn't really care for Linux-based netbooks, especially ones as hardware & software-deficient as the Fooleo.

3. Making it dependent on the host Treo for email & non-wifi connectivity was a very bad idea. At the very least, Palm should have given the Fooleo better specs, a more robust software bundle, and integrated 3G connectivity for stand-alone usage.

4. Instant on "netbooks" have existed for years. Psion, Atari, NEC, HP etc fielded units running everything from MS-DOS to Epoc to Windows CE. Palm had a nice (for the time) keyboard & screen size/res but it was by no means ground-breaking. And the best keyboard in the world doesn't help if the hardware is unable to even play a fullscreen video. The Fooleo has a lot of pixels for 416mhz to push around!

I still say that the Fooleo was basically the innards of an aborted LifeDrive 2 (CompactFlash instead of Microdrive) Mobile Manager + some early "roll our own" OS efforts by Palm that got uncomfortably massaged into a netbook.


Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro

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mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?

ardiri @ 6/1/2010 2:54:12 PM # Q
i remember the day when there was 35 lucky developers who each got one of these devices at the linux world 2007 event - i was one of them :) we did have to explicitly sign an agreement that prevented us from selling it on ebay etc etc.. more importantly, we had to return it etc etc.. i still got mine, and it is a proud addition to the 250+ collection of handheld devices i have, along with the likes of some prototype tapwave, PCB only T|T and the Gizmondo! i would never sell it - no money could buy a unit like this seriously.
--
Aaron Ardiri
PalmOS Certified Developer
RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
cervezas @ 6/3/2010 7:17:28 PM # Q
I still have my Foleo, too, and would never sell it. It's quite a lovely piece of hardware even three years later and I used it for quite a while until my wife took it for her own use. She's a writer and likes the way she can open it up and instantly return to where she left off in her work--then simply close when she's done. The old less-is-more and "Zen of Palm" adages still apply.
David Beers
Senior Wireless Developer
MapQuest
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
BaalthazaaR @ 6/3/2010 7:29:54 PM # Q
Welcome back David. Haven't heard a peep outta you in a long time.
RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
Gekko @ 6/4/2010 3:00:15 AM # Q

yeah Beersie - i'm not a writer but i like a pen and paper or better yet a stone tablet and chisel. i like the way i can open it up and instantly return to where i left off in my work - then simply close when i'm done.

spinning to the bitter end.

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
cervezas @ 6/4/2010 3:57:48 AM # Q
Well, there you it!

You and I certainly picked up right where we left off, didn't we, Gekko? :-)

David Beers
Senior Wireless Developer
MapQuest
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
Gekko @ 6/4/2010 4:07:39 AM # Q

but Beersie in less than one hour i'll be picking up my brand new EVO 4G.

don't cling to the past! embrace the future!

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
mikecane @ 6/4/2010 6:07:29 AM # Q
>>>but Beersie in less than one hour i'll be picking up my brand new EVO 4G.

And two hours after that, a cheap stripper will be stealing it from his drunk, passed-out body.

LMAO!!!

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
Gekko @ 6/4/2010 8:40:13 AM # Q

Con - it scares me that you know me so well. 18 hours from now maybe.
RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
mikecane @ 6/4/2010 12:03:34 PM # Q
And you said a few weeks back you gave up the pr0n and the strippers. Wow, are you doomed.
RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
e_tellurian @ 6/4/2010 5:35:36 PM # M Q
If you have a we-com virtual wallet no one can take your content or hardware. Quality hardware is worth keeping and the future will assure such choices.

E-T

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
cervezas @ 6/4/2010 10:15:35 PM # Q
Gekko wrote:

but Beersie in less than one hour i'll be picking up my brand new EVO 4G.

don't cling to the past! embrace the future!

Ha! I'm drowning in the future. You should see my desk right now. Android phones, BlackBerries galore, a couple Palms, a few different iPhones, a smattering of WinMos still in boxes, and a pile of feature phones behind them, charger cords snaking everywhere.... plus three or four more smartphones in my bag. I'm so mobile I can barely move.

The thrill of the unboxing is gone. Consider yourself lucky if you are just getting a new phone every other year.

Glad I don't have to pay for sex, though! ;-)

David Beers
Senior Wireless Developer
MapQuest
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: mmm - someone breaking their agreement with Palm?
mikecane @ 6/5/2010 7:56:56 AM # Q
>>>I'm so mobile I can barely move.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. You gonna do anything for tablet devices? Android *and* webOS.

Reply to this comment

Please fix typo

novomesky @ 6/1/2010 3:04:14 PM # Q
"To date pubic and online appearances of the device have been rare and often shrouded in secrecy."
RE: Please fix typo
ardiri @ 6/1/2010 3:05:50 PM # Q
it is a little big to fit down your pants - i expect people to realize it is a typo *g* mine is still sitting in its original box as well, but i ported the dr companion solution to it, http://www.drcompanion.com - had that running at the linux world 2007 event as well - love cross-platform development done right!
--
Aaron Ardiri
PalmOS Certified Developer
Reply to this comment

Great idea just a bit too early.

Tuckermaclain @ 6/2/2010 9:39:15 AM # Q
The World says that the little tablet is great according to the popularity of the iPad. The Foleo was just a little ahead of it's time. What if Palm had the clout that Apple has? Would the Foleo be commonplace? I love my little netbook. When I travel I have portability and long battery life. Like the Cadillac 4-6-8 which was a great idea but took Honda to make it desirable, the Foleo was just a bit too early. One thing is for sure--Hawkins is an idea man who has a proven record.
RE: Great idea just a bit too early.
e_tellurian @ 6/2/2010 11:07:03 AM # M Q
It's good to have people with ideas and the resources to bring ideas to market. Some ideas require a prototype which requires capital to build. It is challenging to have people work for free. The purpose of the open market is to assure people can be paid for their time. Equity has value too.

Ideas are great.

E-T

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